'Looking good is an actor's job'

Grey Shades

Madhavan may not be your typical chocolate boy, but there’s something about him that the audience just can’t get enough of.

Whether it’s because of his sense of humour, witty one-liners or understated performances, he took the Southern film industry by storm and has managed to carve a niche for himself in Bollywood as well.

His latest venture, Jodi Breakers, has him breaking away from his tradition of playing only ‘good-boy roles’. His character might not be the world’s greatest villain, but Madhavan maintains that there are definite shades of grey.

“He isn’t entirely a gentleman, and he has traits that he isn’t proud of. But he’s basically a good guy — you have to dig deep to find something good, but it’s eventually there,” he admits.

Ask him whether Bipasha and he make an unusual couple, and he says that this is true. “But this is an unusual film, in terms of story and casting. Everyone’s waiting to see my chemistry with Bipasha  — to our amazement, we really managed to crack this,” he says.

His chemistry with Bipasha is evident off-screen as well. She once claimed that if she ever married, it would be to someone exactly like Madhavan, and he terms this as a huge compliment, but also a lot of pressure.

“Now, my wife asks me to prove that I’m a good husband,” he quips. Bollywood may be going through a transformation in terms of the kind of scripts and roles which are coming out, but Madhavan refuses to distinguish between commercial and off-beat films. “What is off-beat? A film can be accepted by the audience and get critical acclaim at the same time,” he says, citing ‘Tanu Weds Manu’ as one such example.

He adds, “Bollywood is experimenting, and small films have also started doing well.”
Madhavan firmly believes that an actor doesn’t need to have a six pack to make successful films, but he admits that Bollywood is, to an extent, appearance-oriented. “Looking good is an actor’s job.

One has to be fit and attractive — for example, people don’t accept a heroine who has put on weight. It’s the same situation,” he explains. What about his favourite female co-star? Predictably, he says, “It’s Bipasha. She’s amazing to work with. Her level of cooperation was beyond any heroine I’ve worked with.”

Madhavan was in the City recently to promote Jodi Breakers, and admits that he loves visiting Bangalore.

“We were here for a couple of months when we were shooting ‘3 Idiots’ as well. It was quite a party place then. People here are very sweet and welcoming, so it’s like coming back to my own place,” he concludes.